Books and beauty amongst other things.

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I started this blog almost two years ago, in 2014. Since then, I moved to London and am loving some new, exciting things. I wanted to change up the focus of my blog a bit but I didn’t want to totally disregard the old. I enjoyed writing it at the time, so you can still see those old posts here. Needless to say, I’ve also kept my blog name the same because it’s just too pun-ny to wave goodbye to!

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged… I went away over Easter to Eigg (Easter Eigg hehe!) which is a tiny but beautiful island off the West Coast of Scotland… And had no internet pretty much! Here’s a picture from there…>

I went with my parents, the first holiday I’ve been on with them for about six years, and it was lovely and relaxing. I read SIX books, which I need to review here, too! Thankfully, we were also blessed with great weather, as the photo shows. I even got a tiny bit sunburnt, I wasn’t expecting to need cream!
Anyway, review today is the shampoo and conditioner I’ve been using. It’s from Holland and Barrett and completely natural.
The smell is beautiful and you’ve probably heard a lot about argan oil as a miracle product: believe the hype! My hair is so soft and shiny right now. It helps that I’ve had a lot chopped off so it’s in healthy condition but I think this shampoo and conditioner are really helping. It feels like a luxury to wash with and you don’t need too much conditioner to make the hair feel moisturised.
A lot of people don’t know that Holland and Barrett sell beauty products – I certainly didn’t, but there is a really wide range of things if you go to a bigger store, and I’m sure the other Dr Organics products they sell are also great… They have ranges in honey, royal jelly, aloe Vera… I can’t remember what else but there’s a lot! Not just hair products but body too.

Anyway, this is a bit rushed because I’m sleepy – no bank holiday Sunday raving for me 😦 but I thought I better write something so the blog is not left forgotten!

I’ve been using this product for quite a while, and appreciated it at a number of hair lengths: I’ve used it on really long hair and got a really good curl, medium hair for a pretty wave and now it’s taken on whole new meaning after I’ve had a hair chop!
I spritz it onto damp hair and scrunch, and dry with a diffuser. I do have quite curly hair, and was worried about my hair just going haywire when not straightened with this new cut, but this product gives just the right amount of spring up and volume! It gives a really beachy, tousled look. Excellent for me, in the middle of England, nowhere near a beach in a rather cold April: This is as beachy as it’s going to get!

I’ve also found it excellent for refreshing second day hair… And from what I recall it’s not badly priced either! I’d recommend it for everyone with not-straight hair!

Today, I wore one of the more geeky items I own, and I figured I had to share it, as it definitely goes in two of my categories so it’s perfect blog material. Get ready Harry Potter fans…

Oh, how I wish I had all 7. You can buy these bad boys on eBay. If anyone would like to buy me the others please contact me 😉 I have Goblet of Fire because it’s my FAVE. You know you love them. Stop shaking your head at me. Seriously, stop it.

So, me and nail varnish aren’t really friends at the moment with OFSTED looming. Any spare moment I have I feel like I should be marking books, not painting my nails. I have tried doing both but just end up with nail varnish on the books or red pen on my nails: either way, not ideal. However, I saw these Rimmel Sweetie Crush Nails in a magazine and thought I’d give it a try. It describes itself as ‘sugar textured nails’. I’m trying to cut down on spending so I bought it with Boots points. They are £3.99 usually and I chose the colour Fizzy Applelicious, because I’ve got a slight obsession with greeny shades at the moment.

I’ve just painted my nails now with it and so far so good. The sugary texture looks really good, and the colour is subtle enough to go with most things. It’s almost more a goldy neutral colour than a green, but it looks pretty and sparkly. I haven’t dared touch it yet but it’s so far passed the tap-test – I’ve tapped my nails together after a few minutes and the polish hasn’t dented.

I don’t think a top coat would really work with this polish because it would ruin the texture, so I’m unsure how long it will last without chipping. I’ve done two coats so fingers crossed (not literally, it might smudge the polish) it’ll last a while.

The other colours are pastel too, pink, blue, yellow…so I think this is a good one for spring, though the pink looked a little sickly sweet in my opinion. Based on sugar, I suppose that’s the point.

O, Elizabeth Arden’s 8 hour cream,
What would I do without thee?
My chapped lips may remain such
Without you, but with you,
They are softened.
My trainers have blistered my heels,
Although I do not run far,
And them you soothe.
My hands: no longer sore,
But smooth.

No, but in all seriousness, this stuff is great. It does EVERYTHING. I even use it on my face sometimes, the rare moments I get dry patches. Some people hate the smell but I like it because I associate it with good things happening! Apparently it even works on sunburn.

TOP TIP: don’t buy it in Boots, you can get it online or in TK Maxx for around half the price.>

I hope I’m preaching the converted here and you all already know about this…
But this post is about…SUDOCREM.
Yes, cream for babies’ bums.
This is why it’s wonderful:
It clears up spots and takes down redness like an absolute dream! Also if you have any piercings and they’re a little bit funky, like a lump on a nose piercing, a tiny splodge of this takes it away pretty much over night!

Then there’s the fact you can put it on cuts and burns…

If you don’t already have this in your bathroom cabinet go. Buy. Now. It helps eczema too so although I don’t have dry skin myself I reckon it probably wouldn’t hurt.

The only thing I would say is smearing it over your face for a few nights in a row is fine for taking away redness and clearing up the spots, but you may want to follow with a good scrub in the morning because I’ve found after a few days it seems to soak into the pores in my nose. Alternatively, don’t use daily or only apply on the patches which need it.

All in all, brilliant. The only* thing it can’t do is clean. And hang up clean clothes. So I suppose I’ll have to stop blogging and do that myself now. Wah.

I bought this today after reading/hearing lots of positive reviews online and was drawn in by the money back promise. I already use this brand’s face wash and after a 13 year battle with acne my skin’s definitely in one of its better states. I have this idea that because the product is French and ALL French women have good skin* despite ALL smoking* it MUST to work.

*Assumption based almost entirely on the absolutely gorgeous older twin on Les Revenants.

Anyway, it states it unclogs pores and is anti-imperfections. I think imperfections means spots, scarring, redness, basically, a description of my skin. Apparently, after 24 hours imperfections look less red, after 8 days they’re significantly reduced and finally after 4 weeks, pores look unclogged and skin texture looks refined.

Brace yourself for photos of my spotty face, because I am going to take this message exactly as it’s stated! And if it DOESN’T do as it says, I’m going to be one of those people who claims their money back. I love a strongly worded letter.

I know a general response to this is that I am being ridiculous, because that’s what it has been when I’ve voiced my concerns aloud but…

I am getting all wrinkly around my eyes. Well, I’ll rephrase. I am getting wrinkle around my eye. Singular. But it won’t go away. I bought some cream from Boots and got really annoyed because the next time I went in it was half price. The anger from that just resulted in the wrinkle getting more pronounced.

Anyway, I’ve been using the eye cream for a week now and I’m not convinced.
So unless I otherwise mention, don’t buy Time Delay Youth Maintain Replenishing Eye Cream. Especially not at full price.

I’m sure many of you will know of the storyline for ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’, either through reading the book or seeing the film. Interestingly, Lionel Shriver’s creation of Kevin resulted in one of the best depictions of a child psychopath in film, ever. According to a programme about psychopaths that I saw on channel 4. If you would like to know ifYOU are an accurate depiction of a child or adult psychopath you can do a quiz here:http://psychopath.channel4.com/quizzes.html

I digress. Well done, Ms Shriver: That book is seriously haunting, and on a whole new topic, in many ways, so is her newest novel, Big Brother.

This wasn’t a book I devoured, every moment that I could, as fast as I could. But I consumed it steadily on a daily basis and it stayed with me. Consider these food type metaphors a way of me telling you what the book is about.

A woman, who has relatively recently started a successful business in Iowa, is visited by her brother. He’s a quite famous jazz musician based in New York, and one she has always been proud of. However, on arrival it turns out that not only is he now broke, but now weighs over 300 pounds. The book is about the sister’s way of dealing with this.

Considering obesity is such a problem in our society now, I found this book particularly interesting in that it is the first one that I have read which shows overeating and obesity as its main preoccupation. Reality television has fully embraced the fat-epidemic as a form of ‘entertainment’, eating disorders are readily discussed within many novels, but Shriver is the firstWRITER I have encountered to face fatness full on, considering the mental side of things as well as the reactions.

The book is at times funny, moving, and a larger-than-life depiction of families: in many ways it is less about fatness and more about how we do, or don’t, go about helping those close to us. It shows the strain that individual’s actions can have on others. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read which grabs their attention from the off, and makes them think. So, everyone who enjoys reading then…

A lot of the beauty ranges are 3 for 2 at Boots at the moment, so I gave myself a little treat on Thursday night. I bought…

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in ‘Mischievous’ and ‘Shameless’

and…

Revlon Photoready Cream Blush in ‘Pinched’

First of all, never go on blogs/youtube when you’re trying to save money. I don’t know about you but it always results in me buying more things. But I NEED them. So anyway…

The Lipsticks. Are. Amazing.

I think main thing with them is to make sure your lips are in good condition – scrub away those chapped bits with an old toothbrush ladies. Then, it’s like putting a minty tingly lipbalm on but with amazing colour! I have pale skin and these two are both pretty bright – Mischievous is orangey and Shameless is this awesome purple. Not plum. Actual purple.

Mischievous can be worn in a light kind of way and I even wore it to work on Friday, and I’m a teacher so I can’t really go for a statement lip; it is bright but you can layer it on thinner for a more subtle colour. Shameless, however, is what it says on the tin. But I bloody love it! It makes me feel a bit rock-chick-y. I would wear it all the time at the moment if a. I didn’t have to go to work and b. it went with more clothes. I think I’ll be living in black for a while just to make sure I can!

As for the blusher, this is really pretty. I normally wear a more pinky blush but this is a subtle coral kind of colour. It goes really nicely with the mischievous lip. It blends really well, and again, you could slather more on for a night out or keep it more subtle for day time.

All in all, I’m very happy. My one teeny-weeny gripe about my teeny-weeny haul is…Revlon is so much cheaper to buy in the USA. Wah.